Monday 19 May 2014

May 19: Jeremiah 1:6-10

Key Verse: Jeremiah 1:7
But the Lord said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.

Devotion:
We need to take notice of what God said when He called Jeremiah and several others because when He calls us, we too are probably going to come up with a string of excuses about how we cannot do what God calls us to do. I know I tried to come up with excuses and failed too!

God knows who He is calling and He knows why He calls those people. Jesus knew the people He chose to become disciples because He knew them from the inside and not from the outside. God knows what we are capable of and He knows how to get us to make the most of what we do have. I look at the work that I am doing now and look back at what I wanted to do; two very different careers and very different people. I was all in to doing things with my hands and mind and leaving my heart out of the way. But God turned me round to using my heart once again to reach other people.

At one stage in my life I had it drummed into me I would not be able to work effectively if I were to allow my feelings to get in the way of my work; so I tried to go down that route for quite a while. It was only when I allowed God to guide me that I saw how effective your heart can be. If you depend on your own heart it will fail you because we get big ideas and desires which take us away from God’s plan, but listening to God and following His plan in your life makes great sense! Don’t try to shut God out because you think it is all just in your heart; allow Him to guide you deeper into His love.

God has taught me to love people above and beyond what others would call normal and I can see now He made me this way from the beginning. It has landed me in a few tight spots but I continue to trust my God and my Saviour above all. How do you tell others about this trust that you have in God? You show them the trust by depending on Him and following His guidelines. Don’t give in because others think you are using God as a crutch. Don’t give in because others think you are not strong. God has chosen us and He knows what is best; follow Him!

Points to Ponder:
Do you trust others?

How much do you actually trust God?